By Rachel Rosenberg
This year’s Pride Premiere event, hosted by the Vancouver Pride Society, will be held at Šxʷƛənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square (850 W Georgia Street, the North side of the Vancouver Art Gallery). Coming up on Friday, July 26th and running for seven hours from 5 PM onwards, there will be dancing, a beer garden, drag performances, food trucks, community resources and more.
The main stage features music curated by Public Disco, a group that aims to find “innovative ways to present local arts and culture in the public realm”. They are inspired by the way discos provided a sanctuary for marginalized groups during the 60s and 70s and their goal is to deliver cultural events that celebrate the LGBTQ2+ community, providing pop-up public showcases for emerging artists. There will be 5 hours of music supplied by regularfantasy, Adam 2 and Nancy Dru. If you can’t get enough of Public Disco, they are hosting a post-premiere afterparty with queer party royalty Bye Felicia YVR, the aptly named Keep Dancing. That event will run from 10 PM until 3 AM at Eastside Studios (550 Malkin Avenue) and you can currently grab $10 early bird tickets.
Photo credit: Sam Steele
But don’t run away to the after party too quickly, as Pride Premiere 2019 still has funtastic events until midnight! This includes a silent disco, so get ready to trip the light fantastic to beats provided by local and visiting DJs such as Orographic (PDX), R-Pal (SEA), Softieshan, DJ Angel, easy bake coven and Bella (Body Party). There will be two channels of music to choose from, so attendees shouldn’t have trouble finding something deliciously danceable. We are also lucky enough to have a plethora of brilliant local drag legends at the show: Continental Breakfast, PM, Alma Bitches, Boss, Madam Lola, Maiden China and Rich Elle will be giving it their all. If you haven’t seen these performers before, this is the time to finally do it.
Always a thoughtful host, the Pride Society has made sure that ASL will be on-hand at the main stage, and that there are accessible, gender neutral washroom options. So gather your closest friends, bring your kids, and dance the night away with Pride.
Photo credit: Vision Event Photography
Then, on Sunday, August 4th, the Pride Parade will protest and party its way through downtown from noon until 3 PM. Just a few weeks away, the parade leads revelers from downtown Robson to the Sunset Beach Festival, a family friendly event that has a main stage, Community Zone, beer garden, food trucks, interactive art and more. Though the full line up hasn’t been released yet, RuPaul’s Drag Race stars Eureka O’Hara and Shuga Cain will be this year’s dazzling headliners. The festival is completely free, so expect an exciting weekend packed with eager tourists and Vancouverites.
Rachel Rosenberg is a writer and library technician who is a proud member of the LGBTQ2+ community. She writes for Book Riot and can be found on Twitter @LibraryRachelR
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